LONG BEACH, Calif.—UC San Diego women's volleyball fell to Long Beach State, 3-1, on Tuesday evening in Walter Pyramid.
The Tritons (16-10, 10-5 Big West) fell to the Beach (16-9, 10-5 Big West) by set scores of 20-25, 20-25, 25-20 and 14-25.
Kylie Pries led the offense with a match-high 14 kills, adding two aces and one block for 16.5 total points.
Emily McDaniel finished with nine kills, while
Ava McInnes added eight.
Audrey Hollis finished the night with 37 assists, seven digs and two aces.
McDaniel led the defense at the net with four blocks, while
Madison Johnson and
Molly McCluskey added two apiece.
Paulina Baillie tallied a match-high 13 digs, while McCluskey and Pries added seven and six respectively.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams battled to a 13-13 tie early in the opening set before LBSU used a 4-1 run to create distance for the first time in the match. The Tritons cut it back to a one-point deficit, 19-18, with back-to-back kills by McCluskey and McDaniel. The Beach then outscored UC San Diego, 6-2, to close out the opening frame, 25-20.
Long Beach State used an early five-point run to lead set two, 7-4. A three-point run by the Tritons tied the set at 7-all. UC San Diego put together a four-point run, highlighted by an ace by McDaniel and a kill by Pries to take the lead, 11-9, but the teams continued to remain knotted up all the way to 18-18. Once again, LBSU outscored the Tritons, 7-2, down the stretch to take the second set, 25-20, and lead the match, 2-0.
The Tritons found their rhythm in the third set, hitting .345 as a team with 15 kills and just five errors. UC San Diego scored eight unanswered early in the set with McDaniel at the service line to build a comfortable 9-2 lead. The Tritons built their largest lead of the contest with a 7-1 scoring run—including aces from Baillie and McCluskey—to lead, 18-6. The Beach continued to chip away at the lead down the stretch, including fighting off four set points before UC San Diego took the set, 25-0.
In the fourth and final set, it was another early back-and-forth battle with the teams tied at 6-all. Long Beach State then put together a four-point run to create distance and extended its lead to 17-10 with another four-point run midway through the set. The Tritons made a late sure with a kill by McCluskey, an ace by Baillie and a block by McCluskey/McDaniel to make it ,19-14. However, the Beach scored the final six points unanswered to take the set, 25-14, and the match, 3-1.
TRITON TIDBITS
UP NEXT
The Tritons will play their final road match of the regular season, traveling to face Hawai'i on Saturday at 9 p.m. PT. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live statistics will be available via UCSDTritons.com.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.
